Disclaimer:

This story is purely fictional. I do not know *NSYNC. This is not implying anything about *NSYNC's true sexuality. I do not know if they are gay or not. Do not read this if you are under 18 or it is illegal in your state to read literature with homosexual content.

Pairing: JC/Justin

Chapter 2

"Finally! Taxi!" Justin shouted as he waved his hand in the air.

A black striped yellow cab came to an abrupt halt. He motioned for JC and Justin to climb into the back. By this time, JC and Justin had been waiting for a cab for about 1 hour. They had signed about a zillion autographs from fans on the street and were tired, soaked to the bone, and freezing cold. They quickly shook some of the water off of themselves, and buckled their seatbelts.

"Where to?" The husky New York cab driver asked.

"The St. Regis Hotel please," JC answered slowly, shivering a bit from the chills he had received while standing out in the rain.

"Sure, no problem," the driver answered as he pulled away from the curb.

"Well, they sure did it this time. Leaving us out there alone in the freezing cold rain. I mean, we were just teasing," Justin stated, obviously furious at his band mates.

"I know...it's not like they don't tease us a lot. Yet, do we leave them out in the rain to be mobbed by a million fans asking for autographs and have to hail a taxi to take them back to their hotel? I think not!" JC answered also ticked off.

"Well, what are we going to..."Justin started to ask as the car swerved around the corner, sliding on the slick road causing JC to run into Justin and grab his knee for support.

Justin stared down at JC's hand. Oh, how he wanted to grab it and place his hand on top of it, but he knew he couldn't.

"JC...uh, can you move your hand please?" Justin asked, not really meaning what he said, but didn't want to give an impression that could hurt their friendship.

"Oh, I'm sorry Justin. I didn't realize my hand was still there," JC lied. He knew his hand was there and wanted to keep it on Justin's knee for as long as possible.

"That's okay. So, again what do you think we should do about what Chris and the guys put us through this afternoon?"

"Hmm...I don't know. Give me some time to think about it; I'll come up with the perfect comeback!" JC answered, smiling evilly.

Twenty minutes later they were back at the hotel. Justin paid the cab driver, and they ran into the lobby, not stopping to hold the door for a lady and a stroller. In less than a minute they were upstairs in their room, showering and changing into dry clothes. Once clean, they headed to bed. The day's activities had been very stressful and tiring. They wanted to take a nap before their next event, but just before they could settle down into their separate beds the phone rang. JC groggily sat up, and reached over to the nightstand.

"Hello?" JC asked into the receiver.

"Yes, is this Mr. Joshua Scott Chasez?" the voice at the other end asked politely.

"Yes, this is he. How may I help you?"

"My name is Clarence O'Donnell. I'm with ABC Studios. Last week we took an internet poll asking for the "Most Wanted Host", that listed 5 people that could possibly guest host this Sunday's Wonderful World of Disney. The choices were yourself, Ben Affleck, Christina Aguilera, Leslie Bibb, and Julia Roberts, but you won the poll."

"Wow...I don't know what to say. I'll call you back after I talk to Management and Johnny Wright. Is it possible I could co-host the show with one of my band mates?" JC asked, hopeful.

"We don't have a problem with it, as long as your Management Team is okay with it.

"Okay, that's great. I'll talk to you soon." JC said as he hung up the phone. Looking over at Justin, he saw that the curly-haired boy was fast asleep on the other twin bed. JC picked up the phone again and dialed Johnny and Management.

"Hello? Johnny Wright speaking," The voice answered, blankly.

"Johnny, it's JC. I just received a call from ABC. They want me to host The Wonderful World of Disney this Sunday. Supposedly I won some internet poll for "Most Wanted Host". What do you all think. I also asked if I could bring along Justin, and they say that would be fine as long as it's all right with you all." JC finished he explanation all in one breath.

"Well, I think hosting WWD would be great, but you should do it by yourself," Johnny answered.

"Why do you think that? How come you don't think Justin would be an asset to the show?"

"Well, JC if you ever want to have a solo career, you need to start doing a few things on your own. The poll said you, not you and Justin."

"But Justin is my best friend; he and I always do these kind of things together!"

"JC, stop babying him. Sometimes, I get the impression that you only hang out with him to protect him, and/or pity him. You shouldn't do that. Give him some space."

"How dare you make that assumption. I would never just hang out with him over pity. Not to mention he doesn't need any. He's the most popular one of us."

"You're getting off of the subject at hand here JC."

"Well, if Justin can't do it with me, then I'm going to turn down the offer. I don't want to be by myself in Los Angeles for three days."

"You have no way out of it now. My secretary just got off of the phone with ABC. You're booked for doing the show."

" Man, why me?" JC screamed as he threw the phone back onto it's cradle.

JC stood up, and walked out of the room. He turned around the corner, and knocked on Joey and Chris's door.

"Come in," Lance said as he stood from the chair he was sitting in.

"Hey guys and Melinda. I thought I'd let you all know that Justin is asleep, since you gave him and I the worst pay back anyone could have given us. We were mobbed by about a million people for our autographs, since we forgot our hats, we got soaked, we were frozen the entire wait and ride up here, and it took us about an hour to finally get a cab.

"Sorry about that," Chris told JC, half heartedly.

"Well, anyways, I've got to pack. I'm leaving for Los Angeles tomorrow. ABC studios has asked me and only me to be the guest host of this Sunday's Wonderful World of Disney. So, I'll be leaving for three days. I told management I didn't want to do it with out the rest of you guys, but they wouldn't let me back out of it. So, here I stand."

"Well, you go pack and get some rest, JC. As a matter of fact, I'll help you pack." Melinda said as she got up from her chair.

"Do you really think you did the right thing, Chris, leaving them out in the rain by themselves?" Lance asked, with a slight mocking tone to his voice.

"What else was I supposed to do? They insulted me; I had to make them pay. How was I supposed to know they were going to get mobbed, soaked, nearly frozen to death, and wait an hour for a taxi?" Chris answered matter of factly.

"Well, there were other ways you could have made them suffer you know," Joey added, giving Chris a scornful look.

"Hey, don't go getting all mad at me. I didn't do anything wrong. Besides, it's about time they start really looking at each other. Maybe finally getting out of our earshot for a while helped a bit," Chris told the other two, trying to make a good excuse for his actions.

"Don't tell me you're trying to play matchmaker now," Lance turned to Chris and stated angrily.

"Don't get mad at Chris about that. I'm helping too, and so should you!" Joey chirped in.

"How can we be so sure they're even gay. I mean, don't you two think that if they really were they would of told us by now?" Lance asked, with confusion in his voice.

"I don't know...I'm not gay or anything, but from what I've heard it's not easy coming out of the closet. You have a lot to worry about, especially in our line of work," Joey answered turning to face his younger band mate.

"They probably are scared that we'll stop being their friends or something, but more importantly I think that the reason they haven't come out yet, is they think the other one will stop being their best friend. Little do they know that they both want the same exact thing from each other," Chris added.

"How can you be so sure they're really IN love Chris? I mean, couldn't that be brotherly love?" Lance asked even more confused now from the direction their conversation was taking.

"The look that JC has in his eyes every time he sees JC is not brotherly love. The lust, care, kindness, and yearning Justin's face shows every time he gets just the briefest glimpse of JC isn't brotherly love. Are Joey and I the only two who see it?" Chris asked, frustrated.

"I see it," a gentle voice said from behind them.

"Oh, hi Melinda. Is JC done packing?" Chris asked, facing the woman.

"Yeah, he's taking a nap now too." She answered.

"We were just discussing Justin's and JC's sexualities. Don't you think they're in love?" Joey asked the woman in her early twenties.

"Yes and no. They both show the many signs of love. But I'm not sure that both are really IN love," Melinda Rockney answered, butting into the conversation.

"What do you mean by that?" Lance asked, starting to get a little suspicious.

"Well, I think that JC is definitely IN love, but Justin... well, I've known Justin too long, and I'm not sure that he is really IN love. I think he's just in lust."

"Why do you say that? Can't you see the love in his eyes?" Chris asked starting to be a bit confused and upset by her answer.

"Oh, I can see the love in his eyes all right, I'm just not sure it's true love or true lust. I can for sure tell that there is an attraction by Justin to JC. I'm just not sure it's the same kind of attraction JC has for Justin. Justin is still so young; he's never experienced the real feeling of "love" so I'm not sure that he's really in love or not."

"Justin's not that young. I mean his is 19..." Chris started by was interrupted by Melinda.

"Oh I know that he's 19. You guys forget sometimes that I've been his best female friend since he was about 3. We know practically everything there is to know about each other, which is the reason why I question Justin's true feelings for JC."

"Well, no matter what it is...he needs to tell JC. Poor JC; he cries himself to sleep all the time because he thinks Justin could never love him the same way he loves Justin. JC has tried on countless occasions to tell Justin his feelings for him, but can't do it because he truly believes Justin is a straight guy," Joey told the group.

"Oh, I don't know exactly what Justin's sexuality is as of now, but I would not be surprised if him being what you all think is in love with JC is just an experiment to see what his sexual preference is. Not that I mind homosexuals," Melinda lied.

Melinda hated homosexuals with a vengeance. She couldn't stand the thought of two people of the same gender being IN love together. In her mind it was wrong, totally disgusting, and one of the worst sins you could commit against God. She literally hated every single homosexual except for Justin. First off, she wasn't totally sure Justin was gay, and second she thought he was just under a "love trance" by JC. She was going to try everything in her power to convert him to pure straightness. If she ever told her plan to anyone they would have shrugged it off as pure jealousy. They'd think she was in love with Justin and was just trying to make him hers. But, they would of been wrong. She had absolutely no physical attraction to Justin. She was just going to turn on her charm to save him from what she considered to be the first and last step of sealing your future in Hell. The fact that JC was going to be away in LA for three days just helped her plan start even better. She knew Justin would be very vulnerable with JC gone; it was the perfect time to make her move.

Well? What do you all think? Ooh a Cliff Hanger!!! What is Melinda going to do; is Justin totally gay? I want to thank everyone that has sent me letters with compliments and suggestions. My biggest thanks goes out to Cody, for helping me decide exactly what I wanted to do with this story. Please e-mail me with any suggestions, comments, or criticism: sleepychick101@yahoo.com :) I love hearing from you all.

L.D. Griffin